The April Jobs Report

The Labor Department said hiring continued at a subdued pace in April. Here are highlights from Friday’s report.

JOBS

160,000

U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 160,000 jobs in April, falling well short of the 205,000 forecast by economists. Monthly employment growth has averaged 192,000 in the first four months of the year, a slowdown from the 229,000 average in 2015.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.0%

The unemployment rate stayed at 5% in April, meaning that nearly 8 million Americans who were looking for work couldn’t find a job last month. That’s half of its 2009 peak of 10%. In March, Federal Reserve officials projected the unemployment rate would fall to 4.7% by the end of this year, and drop to 4.6% in 2017.

ALTERNATIVE UNEMPLOYMENT

9.7%

Another gauge of slack in the labor market is the broader measure of unemployment that includes workers stuck in part-time jobs or too discouraged to search for work. It stood at 9.7% last month, matching February’s rate, which was the lowest since 2008.

PARTICIPATION

62.8%

The share of Americans participating in the work force stood at 62.8% in April, down from 63% in March but up 0.4 percentage points from a multi-decade low of 62.4% in September. Continuing improvement in the job market should draw more workers off the sidelines, but the aging U.S. population means many older workers may be gone from the labor market for good.

WAGES

2.5%

Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers last month rose 0.3%, or 8 cents, following a 6-cent increase in March. That brings April’s average hourly earnings up 2.5% from April 2015. The average workweek rose 0.1 hours to 34.5 hours last month. Some economists are concerned that as wages rise, falling corporate profits will make it harder for firms to keep adding workers.

REVISIONS

19,000

Both March and February’s job gains were revised downward, resulting in 19,000 fewer jobs added than had been previously reported.